This invention relates to an improved cargo tray for vehicles, including automobiles, station wagons, vans or other vehicles having a cargo area that is carpeted or otherwise furnished in such a way that it is not suitable for cargo use and particularly for use with a rough cargo such as firewood for instance. The invention provides a cargo tray which is incrementally adjustable in length or width and is readily insertable or removable from the cargo area of a vehicle. The cargo tray is provided in two (2) interfitting and engaging parts so that the length or width of the cargo tray may be adjusted to accommodate the cargo area of the vehicle, or the cargo tray may be incrementally sized to fill as much of the cargo area as may be required to handle a particular load, and the two (2) parts of the tray will be locked together to form a single rigidly supported tray member.
Prior art cargo bed liners are not adapted to be adjustable incrementally in length or width to enable the use of one size cargo bed liner for a wide variety of vehicles with different shaped cargo areas or to utilize an appropriate or desired portion of a cargo area for a particular vehicle.
The improvements of the present invention beneficially provide a novel, non-obvious and useful cargo bed tray which is removable, incrementally adjustable in length or width will support itself in any incremental position without support from the sides of the vehicles cargo area and requires less storage space when not being used than the cargo liners of the prior art.
Yudenfreund in U.S. Pat. No. 2,898,146 discloses a foldable and removable insert and liner for the rear of station wagons and the like, the liner consisting of a plurality of hinged panels adapted to fit over the cargo deck and against the sides of the cargo area to shield and protect the interior of the vehicle.
Poyser in United Kingdom Patent application No. 2,118,109A discloses a protective liner for the load carrying area of a vehicle formed of side parts and an end part hingedly connected to a base part, whereby in a storage condition the parts are in a substantially flat configuration, and when in use the parts form an open ended container.
Kennedy in U.S. Pat. No. 818,257 discloses a lining for traction vehicles to facilitate the shipment of material in bulk, such as grain. The lining consists of four sections, each section having a bottom and two sides forming a corner. The sections being adjustable in size longitudinally or transversely by increasing or decreasing the amount of the overlap of the sections. The sections of Kennedy are placed against the sides of the cargo area for support, and cannot be used to line a portion of a cargo area.
Prior art cargo bed liners are not adapted to be adjustable incrementally in length or width to enable the use of one size cargo bed liner for a wide variety of vehicles with different shaped cargo areas or to utilize an appropriate portion of a cargo area for a particular vehicle. The improvements of the present invention beneficially provide a novel, non-obvious and useful cargo bed tray which is removable, incrementally adjustable in length or width and requires less storage space than those of the prior art.